What is the Doctrine of Discovery? 

The Doctrine of Discovery is a legal principle that European countries extinguished Indigenous sovereignty and acquired the underlying title to Indigenous Peoples’ lands upon ‘discovering’ them.  

The Doctrine of Discovery is inspired by racist 15th century papal bulls dividing up “uncivilized” Indigenous lands for European powers. It became a legal principle through United States Supreme Court decisions of the 1820s and 1830s (the “Marshall Decisions”). It made its way into Canadian law in the 1880s through the St. Catherine’s Milling decision.  

The continued centrality of the Doctrine of Discovery to modern Canadian Aboriginal law is the source of many Indigenous people’s rejection of the Canadian legal system and government policies on ‘reconciliation’. 

Excerpts from: What is the Doctrine of Discovery, Bruce McIvor

More about the Doctrine of Discovery:

Indigenous Title and the Doctrine of Discovery -Indigenous Corporate Training Inc, March 30,2023

Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery- Assembly of First Nations, 2018

Vatican Officially Repudiates the Doctrine of Discovery, APTN, March 30, 2023

Who controls the lands in this country we call Canada?

11% Private

41% Federal Crown Land

48% Provincial Crown Land

.36 % Reserve Lands

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• Emmanual United Church in Waterloo Returns Land to White OWL Native Ancestry 

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